Shuffle feed mechanism

ABSTRACT

This mechanism comprises a shuffle feed mechanism having two sets of longitudinally extending serrated members forming a grid or bed, at least one of the sets of being movable longitudinally with respect to the other so as to progress articles from pocketto-pocket or valley-to-valley along the length of the mechanism by pushing of the articles upwardly along an inclined wall of a V-shaped notch and over the apex so as to slide or roll down into the next notch. The sets of shuffle members are elevated at their discharge ends with the outer shuffle members being at a quarter elevation so as to provide a transverse trough-like configuration to cause single filing of articles progressed therethrough. Also the shuffle feed mechanism includes barrier means extending longitudinally so as to confine the articles to a narrow path along which only a single article can be fed.

United States Patent [191 Anderson 51 Jan. 2, 1973 [52] U.S. Cl..l98/30, 198/219 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65g 25/04, B65g 47/26 [58] Field ofSearch ..l98/30, 33 AA, 219

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,992,331 Smith ..198/219FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS U.S.S.R ..19s 219 Italy ..198 219Primary ExaminerEdward A. Sroka Attorney-Allen & Chromy [57] ABSTRACT VThis mechanism comprises a shuffle feed mechanism having two sets oflongitudinally extending serrated members forming a grid or bed, atleast one of the sets of being movable longitudinally with respect tothe other so as to progress articles from pocket-to-pocket orvalley-to-valley along the length of the mechanism by pushing of thearticles upwardly along an inclined wall of a V-shaped notch and overthe apex so as to slide or roll down into the next notch. The sets ofshuffle members are elevated at their discharge ends with the outershuffle members being at a quarter elevation so as to provide atransverse trough-like con figuration to cause single filing of articlesprogressed therethrough. Also the shuffle feed mechanism includesbarrier means extending longitudinally so as to confine the articles toa narrow path along which only a single article can be fed. 1

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INVENTOR EARL R. ANDERSON B Y 444 my 4% ATTORNEYS SHUFFLE FEED MECHANISMDESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This application is a continuation-in-partof my copending application Ser. No. 776,682 filed Nov. 18, 1968 nowabandoned.

The present invention concerns shuffle feed mechanism of the type havinglongitudinally extending shuffle members arranged in sets, at least oneset of which is movable with respect to the other, and relates moreparticularly to improvements providing for single filing of articlescarried along by the shuffle feed.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a shuffle feedmechanism employing longitudinal shuffle members, and in which thearticles carried through the shuffle feed are placed in a single file asthey progress along so as to be discharged as a single file, one by one,in timed relation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shuffle feed mechanismof the above character in which the active feeding members and theirserrated surfaces disposed at a lower elevation than the other set ofserrated members when the members have their V- notches alignedtransversely.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a shuffle feed ofthe above character in which articles are discharged as a single file intimed relation and in which an auxiliary file or files of articles aremaintained at either side of the single file being fed so as to be inplace to occupy any vacancy in the single file feed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shuffle feed mechanismhaving longitudinal shuffle members providing a trough-likeconfiguration extending longitudinally of the shuffle feed members, themechanism preferably also including a barrier or barrier means at one orat both sides of the shuffle feed mechanism so as to effect singlefiling of articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shuffle feed mechanismhaving longitudinalshuffle members with notched or serrated upper facesarranged in sets, one set being stationary and the other set beingmovable generally parallel to one wall of the teeth of the stationaryset and in their retracted position extending halfway up the adjacentface of the stationary set.

The above and other objects of the invention are attained as describedin connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferredembodiment, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shuffle feed mechanism embodying theinstant invention and providing for delivery of a single file in timedrelation;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken in the plane indicated by the line 3-3in FIG." 2;

FIGS. 9 through 12 are schematic operational views which illustrate theprogression of an article from one pocket to another;

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the shuffle mechanism includes a base 10upon which respective side frame members 12 and 13 are mounted, thesemembers 12 and 13 being connected at both ends by respective crossmembers 14.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, the shuffle feed members include a setof stationary notched orserrated shufi'le members 21 which are securedbetween the side frame members 12 and 13 on respective stationary crossshafts 16, the shuffle feed members 21 being six in number and beingsuitably apertured at 22 to be held in position by these shafts. Theapertures 22 are placed at different vertical positions in the shufflemembers at the discharge end to elevate the discharge end of certain ofthe members with respect to the feed end. As seen in FIG. 4 there aretwo central stationary feed members 21a, two intermediate stationarymembers 21b with their discharge ends at a higher elevation than themembers 21a and two side stationary members 210 with their ends at ahigher elevation than the members 21b so as to form a troughlikeconfiguration extending longitudinally from the discharge end andgradually fading out toward the feed end as shown where all the membershave the holes 22 at the same position so as to be vertically positionedthe same. Thus, the transverse pockets formed by the V-shaped serrationsat 23 (FIG. 3) are straight across without a center trough at the feedend of the apparatus. The pockets 24 at the discharge end of themechanism are formed transversely as troughs.

A second movable set of longitudinal shuffle feed members 26 (FIGS. l-4)is provided which are mounted for relative reciprocation with respect tothe stationary shuffle feed members along an inclined path substantiallyparallel to one wall of the V-notch in the stationary shuffle feedmembers. This movable set of shuflle feed members 26 is carried byrespective crossshafts 27 supported at their ends in respective slides28 which travel in inclined slots 29 in the side frame members 12 and13.

The slots 29 are disposed substantially parallel to the rearwardlyfacing walls 23b of the stationary shuffle members. In the same way theapertures 25 in the movable shuffle members are disposed at differentlocations so as to elevate the discharge end of these movable shufflemembers 26 in the same manner as described with respect to thestationary shuffle members 21.

The two actuating slides 28 (FIG. 1) on each side are connected by astrap 31 which is carried at its end by pivoted at the upper ends to theadjacent one of a pair of arms 3301 the bell cranks 34 pivotedonrespective shafts 36 carried in the side frame 12. Each bell crank has adepending arm 37, and both the depending arms are connected by a strap38 pivoted thereto. Strap 38 is connected by an actuating link 39 to agear 41 mounted on a cross shaft 42. The gears 41 mesh with respectivepinions 43 secured to a cross drive shaft 44 so that as the drive shaft44 is rotated the gears 41 through the links 39 and the links 38 causethe bell cranks 34 to reciprocate, and through the links 32 and 31,cause the slides 28 to travel up and down in the slots 29 at either sideof the frame to operate the movable shuffle members.

The movable shuffle members 26 (FIG. 4) include a center member 26a, twosimilar members 26b secured at either side thereof and having theirupper edges beveled inwardly at 51, these two members 26a and 26b beingseparatedby the stationary shuffle members 21a. Between the stationaryshuffle members 21b and 21c there is a pair of movable shuffle members260, also having their upper edges beveled at 51, and at either side ofthe members 21c there are a second pair of movable members 26d.

As seen in FIG. 4 the members 26d are higher than the members 260, themembers 26c are higher than the members 26b, and the members 26b arehigher than the center member 26a at the discharge end of the apparatusso that the trough-like configuration of the shuffle feed bed or grid iscontinued by both the movable shuffle members as well as the stationaryshuffle members. Referring to FIG. 5, the advancing face of 56 of eachshuffle feed member 26 is disposed parallel with the rearward face 57 ofthe V-notch 58 of the stationary shuffle feed members 21 so that thecross notches formed by the shuffle feed members are unobstructedtransversely of the machine, and if a single layer of articles such aswalnuts, for example, are placed on the shuffle feed mechanism at thefeed end, a transverse row or plurality of these members can bepositioned in each pocket or notch. The bed of the shuffle feedmechanism at the feed end is horizontal in a crosswise direction andchanges gradually to a trough shape (FIG. 4) at the discharge end. Thisis done by gradually elevating the shuffle feed members at the dischargeend from the center outwardly. This structural arrangement of theshuffle feed members in effect provides a trough-like gate means whichtends to enforce single filing of articles of the selected size range.This action of the bed is aided by the barrier means 61 as describedlater.

It will be seen also that the top edge 56 of a movable shuffle feedmember 26 only comes up approximately one-half of the distance of thetop edge of the rearward face 57 of a stationary shuffle feed membernotch, this amount being sufficient to perform the advancing functionand to move an article over the adjacent apexes of the stationary feedmembers and into the'next notch or pocket.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 the shuffle feed members 260 of themovable set have intermediate their length a barrier portion or wall 61at either side of the path and this barrier portion is formed with aninclined lead face 610 which is beveled toward the center, a second leadportion 61b which extends upwardly to the full height of the barrier sothat articles tending to travel toward the outer portion of the walladjacent to side wall portion 62 will be retarded or forced inwardly toenforce a single file relation of the articles being fed along theshuffle feed mechanism.

If desired, only one of these barrier members may be provided and asshown in phantom lines in FIG. 8, for example, this barrier member maybe a simple partition 81a which is inserted between adjacent pair of theshuffle members at a desired location so as to ride on and travel withthe shafts 27 to provide a barrier for a desired length along the pathand enforce the single filing of articles therethrough. If desired, asingle file can be formed to either side of a centrally placed barrierso that two single files will be delivered by the shuffle feedmechanism.

Referring to FIGS. 9 through 12, four successive operational views areshown using only a single stationary shuffle member and a single movableshuffle member to enable easier understanding of the operation of theshuffle feed. In FIG. 9 the movable shuffle feed member is substantiallyfully retracted and one walnut is shown in one feed notch which isformed by both the shuffle members 21 and 26 in FIG. 9. It will be notedthat the shuffle member 26 has its article advancing face 26a offsetdownwardly with respect to the similarly disposed face 21a of thestationary shuffle feed member 21, the height of the article advancingface 26a which is active being sufficient to effect the advance of thewalnut 70. Referring next to FIG. 10, the movable shufi'le member 26 hascompleted its advancing movement and has transferred the walnut 70 overthe apex 210 of the adjacent tooth of the stationary member 21 so thatthe walnut 70 is resting against a supporting face 26b of the movableshuffle member 26. Referring to FIG. 11 the movable shuffle member 26has started its retracting movement so that its face 26b is beingwithdrawn from under the walnut 70 in the usual manner of a shuffle feedmechanism, the center of gravity of the walnut '70 being to the right ofthe apex 210 of the stationary shuffle member 21. Referring to FIG. 12the movable shuffle member 26 is shown restored to the same position asshown in FIG. 9 and the walnut 70 has been advanced one full step.

In operation of the entire mechanism referring to FIGS. 5 through 7, anexcess of walnuts 70 are provided at the feed end of the equipment, andas the movable shuffle members reciprocate, these walnutswill tend ortry to progress over the next adjacent notch, if this notch is full ofwalnuts, they will merely move around and fall back in position waitinga space to fall into the next succeeding notch in the direction of feed.When two side by side walnuts 70, as indicated at 70a in FIG. 4, arriveat the partition 61, they will be retarded and usually the centermostwalnut will be progressed into the trough between the two partitions 61as seen in FIG. 2, confining the walnuts to a single row. The outsidewalnut, in some cases, will be disposed slightly ahead of the centermostwalnut and in these cases the outside walnut will be progressed first.The walnuts which are in excess of the amount required to provide asingle file article-by-article feed simply move around in their positionrolling and tumbling against each other until they are free to fall intoa space. As seen in FIG. 5, for example, the walnut 70b has progressedahead of the walnut 70a which is in an elevated position resting on thewalnut 70b. Upon the next stroke of movement when the walnut 70b ismoved forwardly as indicated in FIG. 7, the walnut 70a will fall intothe notch behind to continue the single file relation.

With the above construction it has been found almost impossible toeffect a double feed of walnuts, and if an ample supply of walnuts ismaintained in the feed end, it is almost equally impossible to have avacant space, or notch, in the feed mechanism, although this will-occurwhen fewer walnuts are present in the feed end of the apparatus so thata walnut is not always presented to a notch or pocket.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of theinvention, it is apparent that the invention is capable of variation andmodification of the form shown so that the scope thereof should belimited only by the proper scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a shuffle feed mechanism, a plurality of longitudinally extendingfeed members arranged in sets extending from a feed end to a dischargeend of the mechanism and forming a bed for supporting and feeding fruitand vegetable articles thereover, said members having serrated upperedges forming upwardly opening V-shaped notches in each member, saidnotches being transversely aligned in one relative position of said setsand providing transversely disposed article holding pockets, meansmounting said respective sets for reciprocation relative to each otherin a direction sub stantially parallel to one wall of the V-shapednotches to advance an article from pocket to pocket by pushing orrolling an article up the said one wall of a V-shaped notch and over theadjacent apex so that it is free to roll or slide down the opposite wallof an adjacent V- shaped notch, said mechanism including gate meansformed by the relative positioning of a plurality of said membersbetween the feed end and the discharge end of the mechanism to effect asingle file feed at the discharge end, said plurality of said membersdisposed in elevated position relative to others of said membersadjacent said discharge, and said plurality having substantially thesame elevation as said other members adjacent the feed end.

2. In a shuffle feed mechanism, a plurality of longitudinally extendingfeed members arranged in sets extending from a feed end to a dischargeend of the mechanism and forming a bed for supporting and feed ing fruitand vegetable articles thereover, said members having serrated upperedges forming upwardly opening V-shaped notches in each members, saidnotches being transversely aligned in one relative position of said setsand providing transversely disposed article holding pockets, meansmounting said respective sets for reciprocation relative to each otherin a direction substantially parallel to one wall of the V-shapednotches to advance an article from pocket to pocket by pushing orrolling an article up the said one wall of a V-shaped notch and over theadjacent apex so that it is free to roll or slide down the opposite wallof an adjacent V- shaped notch, means mounting at least certain of saidmembers in elevated position at one side of a single file path of saidfeed mechanism, and means for maintaining an auxiliary supply ofarticles on said certain members to effect a gravity feed of an articlefrom said supply toward said path upon occurrence of a vacancy in saidpath.

3. In a shuffle feed mechanism as recited in claim 2 in which saidcertain members are inclined upwardly from the feed end to the dischargeend of the mechanism.

4. In a shuffle feed mechanism as recited in claim 2,

in which the upper edges of said elevated serrated members are beveleddownwardly toward said path iii a shuffle feed mechanism as recited inclaim 1, in which said gate means comprises an elevated barrier portionof certain of said members on either side of a single tile feed pathextending through said mechtinism.

6. In a shuffle feed mechanism, a plurality of longitudinally extendingfeed members arranged in sets and extending from a feed end to adischarge end of the mechanism and forming a bed for supporting andfeeding fruit and vegetable articles thereover, said members havingserrated upper edges providing transversely disposed article holdingpockets, means mounting said respective sets for reciprocation relativeto each other to advance an article from pocket to pocket, a first groupof said pockets formed by a plurality of said members adjacent said feedend having sufficient width to accommodate a plurality of articles inside by side relation on a plurality of said members, means including aplurality of said members gradually increasing in elevation with respectto others of said members from the feed end to the discharge end and forgradually converging the flow of articles from said first group of saidpockets to form a single file feed of articles ad-' jacent saiddischarge end, and means for operating said sets of members.

7. In a shuffle feed mechanism as recited in claim 1, in whichlongitudinally extending barrier means is provided in said shuffle feedmechanism to effectively confine articles to a single tile.

8. In a shuffle feed mechanism as recited in claim 1, in which said gatemeans comprises an upright longitudinal barrier plate supported betweenan adjacent pair of said feed members to control feeding of articlesalong said mechanism.

9. In a shuffle feed mechanism as recited in claim 8, in which saidbarrier plate is removably mounted and can be placed at any selectedposition transversely of the length of said mechanism between anyadjacent pair of said longitudinal members.

10. In a shuffle feed mechanism as recited in claim 8, in which saidbarrier plate is located substantially centrally of said mechanism toprovide a feed path at either side thereof.

1. In a shuffle feed mechanism, a plurality of longitudinally extendingfeed members arranged in sets extending from a feed end to a dischargeend of the mechanism and forming a bed for supporting and feeding fruitand vegetable articles thereover, said members having serrated upperedges forming upwardly opening V-shaped notches in each member, saidnotches being transversely aligned in one relative position of said setsand providing transversely disposed article holding pockets, meansmounting said respective sets for reciprocation relative to each otherin a direction substantially parallel to one wall of the V-shapednotches to advance an article from pocket to pocket by pushing orrolling an article up the said one wall of a V-shaped notch and over theadjacent apex so that it is free to roll or slide down the opposite wallof an adjacent V-shaped notch, said mechanism including gate meansformed by the relative positioning of a plurality of said membersbetween the feed end and the discharge end of the mechanism to effect asingle file feed at the discharge end, said plurality of said membersdisposed in elevated position relative to others of said membersadjacent said discharge, and said plurality having substantially thesame elevation as said other members adjacent the feed end.
 2. In ashuffle feed mechanism, a plurality of longitudinally extending feedmembers arranged in sets extending from a feed end to a discharge end ofthe mechanism and forming a bed for supporting and feeding fruit andvegetable articles thereover, said members having serrated upper edgesforming upwardly opening V-shaped notches in each members, said notchesbeing transversely aligned in one relative position of said sets andproviding transversely disposed article holding pockets, means mountingsaid respective sets for reciprocation relative to each other in adirection substantially parallel to one wall of the V-shaped notches toadvance an article from pocket to pocket by pushing or rolling anarticle up the said one wall of a V-shaped notch and over the adjacentapex so that it is free to roll or slide down the opposite wall of anadjacent V-shaped notch, means mounting at least certain of said membersin elevated position at one side of a single file path of said feedmechanism, and means for maintaining an auxiliary supply of articles onsaid certain members to effect a gravity feed of an article from saidsupply toward said path upon occurrence of a vacancy in said path.
 3. Ina shuffle feed mechanism as recited in claim 2 in which said certainmembers are inclined upwardly from the feed end to the discharge end ofthe mechanism.
 4. In a shuffle feed mechanism as recited in claim 2, inwhich the upper edges of said elevated serrated members are beveleddownwardly toward said path portion.
 5. In a shuffle feed mechanism asrecited in claim 1, in which said gate means comprises an elevatedbarrier portion of certain of said members on either side of a singlefile feed path extending through said mechanism.
 6. In a shuffle feedmechanism, a plurality of longitudinally extending feed members arrangedin sets and extending from a feed end to a discharge end of themechanism and forming a bed for supporting and feeding fruit andvegetable articles thereover, said members having serrated upper edgesproviding transversely disposed article holding pockets, means mountingsaid respective sets for reciprocation relative to each other to advancean article from pocket to pocket, a first group of said pockets formedby a plurality of said members adjacent said feed end having sufficientwidth to accommodate a plurality of articles in side by side relation ona plurality of said members, means including a plurality of said membersgradually increasing in elevation with respect to others of said membersfrom the feed end to the discharge end and for gradually converging theflow of articles from said first group of said pockets to form a singlefile feed of articles adjacent said discharge end, and means foroperating said sets of members.
 7. In a shuffle feed mechanism asrecited in claim 1, in which longitudinally extending barrier means isprovided in said shuffle feed mechanism to effectively confine articlesto a single file.
 8. In a shuffle feed mechanism as recited in claim 1,in which said gate means comprises an upright longitudinal barrier platesupported between an adjacent pair of said feed members to controlfeeding of articles along said mechanism.
 9. In a shuffle feed mechanismas recited in claim 8, in which said barrier plate is removably mountedand can be placed at any selected position transversely of the length ofsaid mechanism between any adjacent pair of said longItudinal members.10. In a shuffle feed mechanism as recited in claim 8, in which saidbarrier plate is located substantially centrally of said mechanism toprovide a feed path at either side thereof.